Run in with the Police..

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I wanted to share a quick story with everyone so that they can be prepared if they have a run in with law enforcement.

I was flying from a park near downtown Tampa which is also near the arena which had a small event going on, no I was not flying right on top of the crowd. However, due to the political content of the event there was a larger than normal police presence for this day/time. A cop spotted me and ran over to me at the time I was landing the phantom. He was being a bit of a tough guy asking me what I was doing, I simply told him I was a hobbyist and asked if I had done anything wrong. He said I shouldn't be flying over the arena as a crowd was nearby (never said one way or the other if I had done something wrong). Then two other officers showed up as backup and one asked to see my ID. Although I am aware I was not obligated to provide it as they never told me what crime I was suspected of, I provided it because I really am a hobbyist not doing anything wrong and didn't feel the need to make this a crappy situation when they were just doing their jobs. One officer started snooping around my phantom bag and I told him he could have a look, at which time he started taking multiple photos of all my equipment with his cell phone. One of the officers then asked me (three times total thought the ordeal) if I was selling the picture/video I was taking. I told them no of course and reminded them I was just a hobbyist. They finally calmed down as I answered all their questions.

At this point I thought the ordeal was over when one of the officers remarks to me "Well, are you going to fly it some more?" I responded, "Is this a trick or something?" They said no as long as I fly in the other direction. So I took off again and they were so amazed asking tons of questions about the app, controls, range, battery life, where I got it, etc, etc. The whole ordeal went from a cop charging at me acting like a tough guy to the 3 of them thanking me at the end!

Bottom line is:
Follow the guidelines (no night flying, 5 miles from an airport, under 400 feet etc.) and apparently do not sell your footage as perhaps you need some type of license to do so?

Cops are curious. It is new to them to and they want to be educated on them.

Here is the link so you can see what type of flying I was doing to attract their attention and you can be the judge.

I wanted to share a quick story with everyone so that they can be prepared if they have a run in with law enforcement.

I was flying from a park near downtown Tampa which is also near the arena which had a small event going on, no I was not flying right on top of the crowd. However, due to the political content of the event there was a larger than normal police presence for this day/time. A cop spotted me and ran over to me at the time I was landing the phantom. He was being a bit of a tough guy asking me what I was doing, I simply told him I was a hobbyist and asked if I had done anything wrong. He said I shouldn't be flying over the arena as a crowd was nearby (never said one way or the other if I had done something wrong). Then two other officers showed up as backup and one asked to see my ID. Although I am aware I was not obligated to provide it as they never told me what crime I was suspected of, I provided it because I really am a hobbyist not doing anything wrong and didn't feel the need to make this a crappy situation when they were just doing their jobs. One officer started snooping around my phantom bag and I told him he could have a look, at which time he started taking multiple photos of all my equipment with his cell phone. One of the officers then asked me (three times total thought the ordeal) if I was selling the picture/video I was taking. I told them no of course and reminded them I was just a hobbyist. They finally calmed down as I answered all their questions.

At this point I thought the ordeal was over when one of the officers remarks to me "Well, are you going to fly it some more?" I responded, "Is this a trick or something?" They said no as long as I fly in the other direction. So I took off again and they were so amazed asking tons of questions about the app, controls, range, battery life, where I got it, etc, etc. The whole ordeal went from a cop charging at me acting like a tough guy to the 3 of them thanking me at the end!

Bottom line is:
Follow the guidelines (no night flying, 5 miles from an airport, under 400 feet etc.) and apparently do not sell your footage as perhaps you need some type of license to do so?

Cops are curious. It is new to them to and they want to be educated on them.

Here is the link so you can see what type of flying I was doing to attract their attention and you can be the judge.

Thanks for posting. Interesting story, and nice footage. However, you would not get away with much of that in the UK without special permission (flying over congested area, flying within 50m of structures, bridges etc etc), but it looked like fun.

The FAA measures distances from airports from the geographic center of the property.

Go fly my pretties... fly... FLY!
Sent from my Etch-a-SketchI may quote rules and laws from my research, but I am not a lawyer and my views are only my opinion - do not construe anything I say as legal advice. (My lawyer made me say that).
There may be few FAA rules regulating hobby flight, but please use common sense. If your flight creates a hazard to people of other aircraft, you can face charges from the FAA if they feel that your flight violates 14 CFR 91.13 'Careless and Reckless' operation. If you are a certificated pilot you could face A Certificate Action as well, so be careful out there.
Yes, I am arrogant. And I am usually right.

The problem is the FAA Law Enforcement Guidance For Suspected Unauthorized Uas Operations that was sent to all law enforcement offices around the US last year. Download it here.

It reads: "The agency recognizes though that State and local Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) are often in the best position to deter, detect, immediately investigate,(1) and, as appropriate,(2) pursue enforcement actions to stop unauthorized or unsafe UAS operations."

Footnotes:
1 At least in terms of initial contact with the suspected offender.
2 Applying any laws falling within the enforcement authority of the LEA in question.

The worst part of this memo is "Local law enforcement is in the best position to inquire and make initial requests to identify and preserve this form of evidence or obtain legal process for securing this evidence in the context of an investigation of a possible violation of state criminal law." To the average Barney, 'preserve evidence' means confiscate everything. And it has happened.

Download the guide and memorize it for the next encounter.

Go fly my pretties... fly... FLY!
Sent from my Etch-a-SketchI may quote rules and laws from my research, but I am not a lawyer and my views are only my opinion - do not construe anything I say as legal advice. (My lawyer made me say that).
There may be few FAA rules regulating hobby flight, but please use common sense. If your flight creates a hazard to people of other aircraft, you can face charges from the FAA if they feel that your flight violates 14 CFR 91.13 'Careless and Reckless' operation. If you are a certificated pilot you could face A Certificate Action as well, so be careful out there.
Yes, I am arrogant. And I am usually right.

The problem is the FAA Law Enforcement Guidance For Suspected Unauthorized Uas Operations that was sent to all law enforcement offices around the US last year. Download it here.

It reads: "The agency recognizes though that State and local Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) are often in the best position to deter, detect, immediately investigate,(1) and, as appropriate,(2) pursue enforcement actions to stop unauthorized or unsafe UAS operations."

Footnotes:
1 At least in terms of initial contact with the suspected offender.
2 Applying any laws falling within the enforcement authority of the LEA in question.

The worst part of this memo is "Local law enforcement is in the best position to inquire and make initial requests to identify and preserve this form of evidence or obtain legal process for securing this evidence in the context of an investigation of a possible violation of state criminal law." To the average Barney, 'preserve evidence' means confiscate everything. And it has happened.

You probably *will* be harassed at some point. The FAA "guidance" basically gives the local LEO open season to decide what is unsafe operation or not. I recommend that you join the AMA (link). The AMA is a pretty useless organization as they have historically been hostile to drone operators and especially FPV flights. (Yes, I am a member). There are two benefits, however. The first is that the AMA has an insurance policy where all members are named insured, and second is the membership card to show to Deputy Dawg to support your claim that it is a hobby flight.

Go fly my pretties... fly... FLY!
Sent from my Etch-a-SketchI may quote rules and laws from my research, but I am not a lawyer and my views are only my opinion - do not construe anything I say as legal advice. (My lawyer made me say that).
There may be few FAA rules regulating hobby flight, but please use common sense. If your flight creates a hazard to people of other aircraft, you can face charges from the FAA if they feel that your flight violates 14 CFR 91.13 'Careless and Reckless' operation. If you are a certificated pilot you could face A Certificate Action as well, so be careful out there.
Yes, I am arrogant. And I am usually right.

Sounds like they were doing their job trying to keep the public safe, especially since there was politics involved. Glad they were cool about it.

I was flying over the marsh last week and a sheriff's boat pulled up to my boat. He was really cool and was just curious. He said the sheriff's office has 3 of them and they can't keep them in the air. GPS problems. He didn't know what brand.

You probably *will* be harassed at some point. The FAA "guidance" basically gives the local LEO open season to decide what is unsafe operation or not. I recommend that you join the AMA (link). The AMA is a pretty useless organization as they have historically been hostile to drone operators and especially FPV flights. (Yes, I am a member). There are two benefits, however. The first is that the AMA has an insurance policy where all members are named insured, and second is the membership card to show to Deputy Dawg to support your claim that it is a hobby flight.

Cool video! I'm surprised they didn't say anything about the airport on Davis Island or flying so close to TGH which has the helicopter landing area not far from there. Ive been wanting to fly in downtown area but have been avoiding it because of those two reasons.

Cops are people first and cops while at work. They are trained to assure that they have any situation 100% in control and not allow any unknowns to surprise them. Even though they probably didn't have any idea what they were looking for, they were trying to make a threat assessment of you and your equipment at first. Don't forget, no one thought of two brothers on foot with backpacks at the Boston marathon was a problem until too late.

Most, not all, will calm down as soon as you 1) recognize their authority by answering their questions and doing what they say 2)don't exhibit any evasiveness or other guilty behavior(they have been trained in this) 3) act normal.

It seems from your story that they just became "guys" as soon as they relaxed and were the typical "wish I had one of those" bystanders. Most of them are in a tough situation and seldom have specific knowledge of "drones" etc. Drone is the same word they use for those government things that kill people.

Cops are people first and cops while at work. They are trained to assure that they have any situation 100% in control and not allow any unknowns to surprise them. Even though they probably didn't have any idea what they were looking for, they were trying to make a threat assessment of you and your equipment at first. Don't forget, no one thought of two brothers on foot with backpacks at the Boston marathon was a problem until too late.

Most, not all, will calm down as soon as you 1) recognize their authority by answering their questions and doing what they say 2)don't exhibit any evasiveness or other guilty behavior(they have been trained in this) 3) act normal.

It seems from your story that they just became "guys" as soon as they relaxed and were the typical "wish I had one of those" bystanders. Most of them are in a tough situation and seldom have specific knowledge of "drones" etc. Drone is the same word they use for those government things that kill people.

Your take on this is spot on in my opinion. Most cops feel they have better things to do than harass people not doing anything wrong. (In most cases) lol
From my experiences cops including Beverly hIlls Swat are so curious about these things they become giddy and like kids when they are allowed to complete their threat assessment. I have since made friends with a few of them and often fly with them from time to time. People Too!

Your take on this is spot on in my opinion. Most cops feel they have better things to do than harass people not doing anything wrong. (In most cases) lol
From my experiences cops including Beverly hIlls Swat are so curious about these things they become giddy and like kids when they are allowed to complete their threat assessment. I have since made friends with a few of them and often fly with them from time to time. People Too!

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